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Craft of Writing

Phyllis Edgerly Ring

Partying Words

Whoever said critique groups can't be fun, as well as instructive?

The women in my writers group aren't particularly brave. We're all well-acquainted with rejection as well as publication, and often still secretly dread putting our work out there for others to see—and possibly criticize.

So, in much the same way that we've learned how to make our writing process as fun as we can, building in rewards for our hard work, we've also designed our feedback group to be "writer-friendly." That means the ground rules include respectfulness and consideration (and offering feedback only when requested). It means maintaining a spirit of mutual support and encouragement. And, it means making a party of the occasion in any way we can. After all, no one ever said you can't do something useful AND make it as fun as possible.

Food's an important element, of course. Most times, one of us has something pretty dazzling to share, although we each often bring an inviting snack along, and most of us have learned to eat lightly at dinner on those evenings when the group meets. The non-stop holiday season from October to December provides a great excuse to make a potluck meal of every meeting and munch while reviewing the latest novel chapter, article, or poem that group members want to test-run. (In the summer, we sometimes share the fun around one member's pool, maybe even getting a little aquatic exercise to burn off some of those extra calories.)

We've also learned that fun activities help us lighten up and feel joyful, while still keeping our focus on the world of words that we love so well. Some of these are the kinds of everyday games you'd expect word-lovers to prize and play like happy children: Scrabble, Boggle, Pictionary.

We've also found ways to incorporate the lives and work of some of our favorite authors, or perhaps the themes from writing that we're working on, into our refreshments. We've had favorite dessert recipes from mystery writers, a big Irish meal in honor of Maeve Binchy's birthday, or Southern cuisine when one writer's plantation-based novel found its way to publication.

For another bit of fun, the hostess sometimes takes a short quote from a writer or famous piece of writing, or very short poem (nothing over 15 words or so) and writes each word on a separate small piece of paper. Then each of us tries to assemble them correctly like a puzzle. Sometimes, there's a prize for the winner. I've used this same technique with other small snippets of famous quotes to encourage children to learn them, or in parties with adults and children where they can solve them together in mixed groups. In another writing-word game, our group has tried to guess what famous writer said or wrote the quotes we take turns reading aloud.

Sometimes, for pure silliness, especially when one or more of us has been facing some challenges, we bring out the magnetic poetry strips, each draw some at random, and concoct poems that usually leave us laughing until our faces hurt, a great medicine on some difficult days.

Generally, we break for one or two of these activities at the same time that we have our refreshments, after each of us has had a chance to share her work and receive the feedback she requests.

We're committed to offering each other constructive feedback that aims to help make each one's work the best it can be, and we think it has. We're proud to say that manuscripts we've reviewed have become published novels, nonfiction books, and a whole raft of magazine articles and essays. So we definitely use our critique time well.

But deep down, we know that it's really the "fun factor" in these get-togethers that keeps us coming back for more. Who's to say it hasn't made our writing better, too?


About the Author
Phyllis Edgerly Ring's articles have appeared in Bay Area Parent, Delicious Living, Hope, Ms., Yankee, and Writer's Weekly. A parenting columnist for several publications, she previously coordinated programs for children and adults at a Bahá'í conference center and later taught English to kindergartners in China. For more information about her current projects, visit www.phyllisring.com.